Status as of January 2021

The Sanctuary is open to the public on the third and forth Saturdays of every month from 8am-1200pm between September and May, and by appointment. Please contact Pete Johnson or any board member listed at Duvalaudubon.org for appointments. The third Saturday is a short bird walk and workday where volunteers help trim, mow, clean, weed and such around the entrance and trails. We occasionally do special projects such as bridge building, nest boxes, trail cameras, invasive plant control, water quality measurements, etc. For more info go here and to signup: http://www.duvalaudubon.org/index.php/activities/calendar-of-events/icalrepeat.detail/2021/01/16/375/-/bird-walk-and-work-day-at-crosby-sanctuary The fourth Saturday's activities consist of an open house where people can come out and walk the trails on their own or in small groups. There are tables and benches near birdfeeders to sit and eat lunch afterward, so bring a snack or lunch for afterward if you wish. For more info go here: http://www.duvalaudubon.org/index.php/activities/calendar-of-events/icalrepeat.detail/2021/01/23/374/-/open-house-at-crosby-sanctuary

Status starting January 2020

The Sanctuary is open to the public on the forth Saturday of every month from 8am-1200pm between September and May, and by appointment. Please contact Pete Johnson or any board member listed at Duvalaudubon.org for appointments. The fourth Saturday's activities consist of a bird walk for about an hour and then volunteers help trim, mow, clean, weed and such around the entrance and trails. We also do special projects such as bridge building, nest boxes, trail cameras, invasive plant control, water quality measurements, etc. Please come join us!

Crosby Days, open to public, on 4th Saturday of each month will resume in September 2016. Please contact Duval Audubon (board member listed for Crosby) at www.duvalaudubon.org.

Ribbon Cutting

Fall 2014 Ribbon Cutting for new 64 acre parcel addition donated by Taylor Morrison!!

Winter/Spring Wildflowers Blooming

The late winter/early spring wildflowers have already started blooming at the sanctuary.  It's amazing to see some of them this early, but not a big surprise due to our warm winter this year.  Here are a few pictures taken today (Feb 2, 2013):

Redbud (Circius canadensis)

Red Maple (Acer rubrum)

Oxalis debilis

Violet (Viola sororia)

Carolina Jasmine  (Gelsium sempervirens)

Grass-leaf sagittaria (Sagittaria graminea var. chapmanii)

Carolina cherry laurel (Prunus caroliniana)

Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)

How to Conquer Air Potato: Air Potato Roundup Results

Thanks all the volunteers who helped gather air potatoes and pick up trash. We only found about 15 potatoes! This means that we are finally on top of this tenacious exotic plant after 6 years of spring roundups and about 3 years of summer herbicide applications on the vines!!!! Persistence pays off.

Ed Rutherford deserves much of the credit for spraying vines and picking potatoes on a regular basis. Ed we at Duval Audubon really appreciate you efforts. Thanks for all your help at Crosby.

6th Annual First Coast Air Potato Round-up

6^th Annual First Coast Air Potato Round-up on Saturday March 3^rd from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Please join us for this annual event to help control invasive air potato vines and maintain the sanctuary.

Lunch and drinks will be provided for all volunteers!

Volunteers are needed to help rid our natural areas of Air Potato vine and other invasive plants. Invasive species smother our native plants and are one of the greatest ecological threats to natural communities in Florida.

Gather all your friends and family & participate in this fun event! No registration necessary unless you’re bringing a large group. Just head over to one of the many work sites! Prizes awarded for the two largest potatoes found!

Crosby Sanctuary,

Duval Audubon Society

427 Aquarius Concourse,

Orange Park, FL 32073

Site Captain: Pete Johnson

Phone: 904-536-4806

petejohnson71@comcast.net

FOS Yellow-rumped Warblers Arrive at Crosby

Numerous "first of season" Yellow-rumped Warblers were observed by Pete Johnson at Crosby on October 26, 2011! We were out there for our monthly work session from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. It had been raining early in the morning, so nobody else showed up except for Ed Rutherford and myself.

As usually happens, when the weather is bad the birding is good. I observed about 30 different species of birds in a couple hours, then entered species/numbers count data in eBird.org when I got home!

Bird Species List -- 101 Species total

A list of the species of birds observed at Crosby is available from the Links section at right of this blog page, or from DAS website. There are now 101 resident and migratory bird species known to occur at Crosby. The real number of bird species is probably considerably higher than this.

Bird records from Crosby are recorded on www.eBird.org, where Crosby Sanctuary listed as a hotspot.

Bird surveys are conducted on a regular basis on the first Saturday of each month starting at 8 a.m.

Volunteers are welcome! Contact petejohnson71@comcast.net for more info.

5th Annual Air Potato Roundup report

The air potato roundup this year was a success. We only found 16 pound of potatoes, but that's a good thing. It means we are getting ahead of them, finally after 4 years!

I want to thank the North Florida Audubon Chapter Regional Conservation Committee members for coming out to help. Thank you Ed Rutherford. I also want to thank Jacob and the Ely brothers from the neighborhood. Thank you all!

Help educate a child to become a good steward of the earth

A good cause/fundraising drive for our chapter's Audubon Adventures program in the elementary schools.

Help educate a child to become a good steward of the earth

Pete

Activity Schedule for 2011

Crosby Sanctuary Activity

Schedule for 2011:

Open House -- First Saturday of the Month from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Crosby Sanctuary will be open for birding, photography, hiking, nature study and enjoyment.

Workdays -- Last Saturday of the Month from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Please come help maintain entrance landscaping and improve wildlife habitat by controlling invasive exotic plants.

2011 First Coast Air Potato Roundup at Crosby -- March 5 from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Florida Youth Challenge Academy Rocks!

The FLYCA conducted four work days in the Month of November. They were able to spread mulch, pick up old trash and tires, and tons of trash that constantly washes into the sanctuary down the neighborhood drainage ditch. The cadets were learning the value of hard work and enjoyed being outdoors at the same time. Scott Davis and I led them on a nature walk into the swamp where we dip-netted macro-invertebrates to see what lives under the water.

Thanks for all your help FLYCA! Duval Audubon appreciates it!

Malacofauna of Crosby Sanctuary

Harry G. Lee of (http://www.jaxshells.org/florida.htm) has greatly improved our knowledge of the malacofauna (gastropods-snails) living at Crosby. Thank you Mr. Lee!

See jaxshells for pictures of these amazing organisms.

Freshwater snails
Campeloma floridense (Call, 1886) Purple-throat Campeloma
Viviparus georgianus (I. Lea, 1834) Banded Mysterysnail
Pomacea paludosa (Say, 1829) Florida Applesnail
Amnicola rhombostoma F. Thompson, 1968 Squaremouth Amnicola
Floridobia fraterna (F. Thompson, 1968) Creek Siltsnail
Pseudosuccinea columella (Say, 1817) Mimic Lymnaea
Physella heterostropha (Say, 1817) Pewter Physa
Planorbella duryi (Wetherby, 1879) Seminole Rams-horn
Laevapex fuscus (C.B. Adams, 1841) Dusky Ancylid

Freshwater bivalves
Elliptio ahenea (I. Lea, 1847) Southern Lance
Elliptio buckleyi (I. Lea, 1843) Florida Shiny Spike
Elliptio icterina (Conrad, 1834) Variable Spike
Toxolasma paulum (I. Lea, 1840) Iridescent Lilliput
Uniomerus carolinianus (Bosc, 1801) Florida Pondhorn
Eupera cubensis (Prime, 1865) Mottled Fingernailclam
Sphaerium occidentale (J. Lewis, 1856) Herrington Peaclam

Land snails
Punctum minutissimum (Lea, 1841) Small Spot
Euconulus trochulus (Reinhart, 1885) Silk Hive
Euglandina rosea (Férussac, 1821) Rosy Wolfsnail

Pupisoma dioscoricola (C.B. Adams, 1845) Yam Babybody

Glyphyalinia umbilicata (Singley in Cockerell, 1893) Texas Glyph

Hawaiia minuscula (A. Binney, 1840) Minute Gem

Ventridens demissus (A. Binney, 1843) Perforate Dome

Mesodon thyroidus (Say, 1817) White-lip Globe

Polygyra cereolus (Mühlfeld, 1816) Southern Flatcoil

Fall 2010 -- The Detritus Cycle Begins

Fall is happening out at the Sanctuary. Many hardwoods and the bald cypress are starting to loose their leaves for the winter. The amount of leaf-fall from the bottomland forest canopy is truly amazing. This "leaf litter" then sits on the forest floor overwinter where the leaves' waxy coating breaks down. Once the waxy coating is broken down and temperatures warm (the following spring/summer), decomposition increases until the leaves are converted into detritus.

Detritus is finely broken down leaf (organic) particles that other organisms use as nutrients. Thus detritus forms the base of the aquatic food chain. A bottomland swamp like Crosby retains some detritus in low flow areas, as well as exports detritus downstream, which fuels the food chain within the Ortega River and St Johns River estuary. Shrimp are the most commonly known and commercially valuable organism that feed on detritus. However, there hundreds of thousands of other aquatic invertebrates that feed on detritus. A detailed explanation of detritus and it's role in ecosystems can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detritus.

Summer at Crosby

Summer is a great time at Crosby. Maybe not for people, due to heat and bugs, but the flora and fauna are very active and thriving! Our work out there is mainly restricted to early morning invasive exotic plant control sessions. Please call 536-4806 if you are interested in participating.

We had several Florida Youth Challenge Academy workdays in May before the summer heat really kicked up. Thank you Scott Davis and all the young men and women cadets who participated. They did quite a bit of work spreading mulch, weeding, and picking up trash that continually washes onto the sanctuary from neighborhood drainage ditch.

Thank you Ed Rutherford for meeting them out there and hauling excess trash and debris to the Clay Co dump. Thanks also for your early attack on the air potato vines this year!

Spring at Crosby Sanctuary

Prothonotary Warbler

Beaver gnaw on sweetgum tree!

Spring is finally upon us and the leaves and buds are popping at Crosby. Ed and I will continue to work on picking up trash, controlling invasive plants, and general improvements to the sanctuary during unscheduled work days during the week and on weekends. Please call Pete Johnson at (904) 536-4806 if you are interested in participating in work days, or just visit the sanctuary for a nature walk. The Prothonotary Warblers should be returning in April!

An interesting thing we learned this winter is that there are North American Beaver living in the Swamp at Crosby.

4th Annual First Coast Air Potato Roundup

The 4th annual Air potato roundup will be held at Crosby Sanctuary from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on January 16, 2010. Please go to www.duvalaudubon.org for more details.

May through August (Summer 09)

The summer is generally a slow season for birding and activities at Crosby. This is mainly due to the summer heat, mosquitoes, and less birds to see. Our next official fieldtrip/workday will be around November 15, 2009. Please check the Duval Audubon website for exact date/details.

Thanks go out to Scott Davis and the FL Youth Challenge Academy boys for spreading many yards worth of mulch in the native landscaping demo area!! FYCA rocks! Cheers

Air Potato Roundup a Success!!

The 3rd Annual First Coast Air Potato Roundup was a big success!  Twelve volunteers collected 500 pound of air potatoes over approximately 8 acres.  A media story ran in the Clay Today.

For pictures of the event see my web album on Picasa.